Waning interest in a North Hollywood crypto-themed home A crypto-friendly house in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, is seemingly struggling to sell, as the property has seen its price reduce three times in a little over four months. The so-called “Cryptohouse,” as stated on the glowing neon sign in its kitchen, was listed for sale at $1.2 million in October last year. As of Jan. 5, though, it is now fetching an asking price of $949,000. The four-bed, three-bath home sees the listing agents boasting in the property description of its spacious and flowing floor plan ideal for “savvy investors.” For …

The music industry has not shied away from its keenness on adopting Web3 solutions. From nonfungible tokens (NFTs) helping artists connect with their communities to blockchain being used for various use cases including event ticketing. Another relevant implementation of the technology to be considered by industry insiders is how Web3 tools can help artists and companies manage music metadata. Cointelegraph spoke with Con Raso, the managing director of B2B music streaming technology provider Tuned Global, to better understand this use case. In the current Web2 music industry, numerous organizations are dedicated to the management of music metadata, along with its …

Actress and model Alejandra Guajardo represented El Salvador in the preliminary competition of the Miss Universe 2022 pageant by wearing a costume featuring Bitcoin during her walk across the stage. In a Jan. 12 post on her Instagram account tagging El Salvador president Nayib Bukele, Guajardo showed herself walking gracefully with a giant colón — one of the country’s accepted currencies until 2001 — strapped to her back adorned with cocoa beans. In her right hand, the pageant contestant carried a staff topped with a large physical Bitcoin (BTC). “This look represents El Salvador’s history of currency,” said the Miss …

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace SuperRare has announced a 30% staff-member cut as CEO John Crain explained that the firm mistakenly over-hired during the last bull market. In a Jan. 7 tweet, Crain shared a screenshot of his message to SuperRare’s Slack channel announcing the 30% cut, stating that he had “some tough news to share.” “Startups are a balancing act of managing rapid growth while doing everything possible to conserve limited resources. During the recent bull run, we grew in tandem with the market” he noted, adding that: “In recent months it’s become clear that this aggressive growth was unsustainable: …

According to a report published by local news outlet Sina News on Dec 28, China will launch its first regulated platform for nonfungible tokens (NFT) trading on Jan 1, 2023. The entity, which acts as a secondary market for the exchange of NFTs, was created by the state-owned Chinese Technology Exchange, the state-owned Art Exhibitions China, and Huban Digital Copyrights Ltd, a private corporate entity. In addition to NFTs, the platform will also facilitate the trading of copyrights related to digital assets. The project aims to "regulate and avoid the excessive speculation in secondary [NFT] markets," as told by a …

NFT-friendly Japanese gaming giant Square Enix has invested 7 billion yen ($52.7 million) into game developer Gumi to create “high-quality” mobile games, blockchain games and a Metaverse initiative, among other things. According to a translated of the press release, the partnership will help Gumi tap certain intellectual property from Square Enix, while it has also teased that the duo could be teaming up for a game-NFT-focused marketplace. “We are already considering the establishment of a platform dedicated to blockchain games and an NFT marketplace, etc. Through collaboration between the two companies, we will provide a one-stop service from the development …

Web3 and emerging technologies have been pushing the boundaries of art distribution, ownership and engagement with fans. However, not all of the recent developments are welcomed by the art community, especially when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI). Recently, AI-generated art has sparked a major debate around ownership after a smartphone app went viral which created AI-generated portraits. The debate around ownership of intellectual property (IP) rights is similar to those seen in the film and music industries. However, developers in the emerging tech space say blockchain technology can provide a middle for artists and AI-generated content. Cointelegraph spoke with …

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) continue to be a dominant force within the Web3 space for increasing innovation and adoption. As the space continues to push its way into mainstream adoption will reach new demographics, including minors. Recently big name entertainment companies such as Disney, which is highly catered to children, have expanded to include crypto-savvy team members and created partnerships with the Polygon blockchain network. Such developments hint at an impending entrance into the world of Web3, however if Web3 content is to be created for minors big questions arise such as how does an NFT become kid-friendly? Or, how does …

Web3 tools and innovations are making their way into various mainstream industries across the world. Some such as the sports and music industries have made a big leap into adoption. However the world of cinema has not been as vocal on its adoption. Some filmmakers in the past have touched on DAOs as a tool to boost community engagement around cinematic projects. Recently, big names in cinematic entertainment like Disney have made more swift moves into the space by hiring Web3-related lawyers and bringing the Polygon blockchain network into its accelerator program. Cointelegraph sat down with Director Stephen Fung, who …

According to a Twitter post dated Dec. 11, SHHAN, creator of the black cats nonfungible tokens (NFT) collection Mimic Shhans, explained to users why he was blocking posts on community social pages written in the Chinese language. The move came after users condemned the new measures as discriminatory. According to SHHAN, who is based in South Korea, but created a Chinese post to specifically address the issue: "It is because I previously announced on Twitter and Discord that my team is trying to enter the North American market. Therefore, I recommended everyone to use English when responding to Twitter posts. …

Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but unfortunately, the billion-dollar diamond industry is rife with scandal and fraud. There have been a number of cases where lab-grown diamonds have been graded as natural diamonds. An example of this was seen last year when the International Gemological Institute analyzed and graded a 6.18ct lab-grown diamond, which was previously claimed to be a natural diamond on its Gemological Institute of America (GIA) report. It was also reported in 2005 that the Gemological Institute of America — which is one of the most trusted sources for evaluating gemstone quality — was accepting …

NFT music on Winamp Old school classic PC-friendly media player Winamp has rolled out support for Ethereum and Polygon-based music nonfungible tokens (NFTs) in the latest update of its desktop player. Winamp has been around since 1997 and was one of the most popular media players for PC users but has since been overtaken by Windows Media Player and Apple’s dominant iTunes. It has a reputation for supporting a wide range of media files, and in the latest update announcement on Dec. 7 the Winamp team noted that NFT support is officially live and ready to go. @winamp I have …